Every year since 1975, the final stage of the Tour de France has concluded on the Champs-Élysées, an emblematic street of the city of Paris. As the final stage of the most recognised bike race in the world, winning it is considered very prestigious. The stage typically starts on the outskirts of Paris, and teams agree on a truce for the opening portion of the race, with cyclists taking the opportunity to have a moment of tranquility, laughing, and celebrating the achievement of finishing the Tour de France. The rider leading the general classification - whose lead is by custom not contested on the final stage, though usually it is by that point unassailable - poses for photographs, often taking a glass of champagne on the way. The second part of the race is more hotly contested. This consists of between six and ten laps of a circuit of the Champs-Élysées, a wide partly-cobblestoned road. Riders try to break away from the peloton to secure victory, though as of 2020 such attempts have only resulted in a victory on six occasions (and on only three since 1979). On the other occasions (except 1989, when the final stage was a time-trial), the winner has come from a mass sprint and has therefore typically been a specialist sprinter. At times this means that the final stage has settled the points classification, which is usually won by a sprinter. Between 2014 and 2016, the course was also used for La Course by Le Tour de France, a women's one-day race. The first edition of Tour de France Femmes in 2022 also used the course, as the first stage of the race. History In the first Tour of 1903, the finish was at Ville-d'Avray. From 1904 to 1967 it was at the Parc des Princes track and from 1968 to 1974, during the heyday of Eddy Merckx, at the Vélodrome de Vincennes. In 1974, Félix Lévitan, co-director of the Tour, and reporter Yves Mourousi suggested a finish on the Champs-Élysées. Mourousi directly contacted French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing to obtain permission. The first stage took place in 1975: this was a Paris-Paris stage of 25 laps (). The Belgian Walter Godefroot won the sprint and Bernard Thévenet received the yellow jersey from the hands of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. In 1977, French Alain Meslet became the first rider to win alone. Since 1978, the final